.]

[Sidenote: Arnold's expedition by the way of the Kennebec.]

Such delays in expediting this detachment were occasioned by the
derangements of the army, that Arnold could not commence his march
until the middle of September.

The success of the expedition depending in a great measure on the
friendly temper of the province against which it was directed, the
instructions given to Arnold earnestly inculcated the cultivation of a
good understanding with the Canadians; and even enjoined an
abandonment of the enterprise, should this sudden invasion of their
country threaten to irritate them, and induce them to take up arms
against the United Colonies. He was furnished with about one thousand
pounds in specie to defray contingent expenses, and with a cargo of
manifestoes to be dispersed through Canada.

The opinion which had been formed of the favourable disposition of the
Canadians was not disproved by the event. They gave essential aid to
the Americans, and cheerfully facilitated their march through that
province. But the previous difficulties to be surmounted were much
greater than had been apprehended. The intermediate country, which had
never been well explored, opposed obstacles to the march, which only
perseverance like that of Arnold and of his brave and hardy followers,
could have conquered. Colonel Enos, who commanded the rear division,
consisting of one third of the detachment, returned from the Dead
River, a branch of the Kennebec. At first, his appearance excited the
utmost indignation in the army; yet, on being arrested, he was
acquitted by a court martial, on the principle that it was absolutely
impracticable to obtain provisions on the route to preserve the troops
from perishing with famine.

Arnold, who at the head of the first two divisions, still prosecuted
his march, was thirty-two days traversing a hideous wilderness,
without seeing a house, or any thing human. Notwithstanding the
zealous and wonderfully persevering exertions of his men, the
obstacles he encountered so protracted his march, that he did not
reach the first settlements on the Chaudiere, which empties itself
into the St. Lawrence, near Quebec, until the 3d of November.

On the high grounds which separate the waters of the Kennebec from
those of the St. Lawrence, the scanty remnant of provisions was
divided among the companies; each of which was directed, without
attempting to preserve any connexion with the other, to march with the